Chapter 38 Let’s Bathe Together

Chapter 38: Let's Wash Together

Shen Shiyan hadn't finished buttoning up his pajamas when Shen Ci opened the bathroom door, his hand gripping the door handle as he leaned his upper body in.

"Daddy, it's eleven o'clock."

Shen Shiyan quickened his movements, his tone flat: "Mm, the water's almost ready. Come take your bath."

Shen Ci didn't move: "I wash first, then Daddy washes?"

Too lazy to button the last one, Shen Shiyan loosened his collar and hummed in acknowledgment.

Shen Ci thought for a moment, let go of the door handle, and stepped fully into the bathroom, looking at the bathtub: "Daddy, let's wash together. It's late."

"?"

Shen Shiyan froze for a moment, then said: "No need. You wash quickly."

"But Sister and the others take Song Qiuchi with them when they go to soak in the hot springs and bathe." Shen Ci looked at the tub, gesturing that it could easily fit three people.

Shen Shiyan said: "We're different."

Shen Ci turned to look at him: "Why? Aren't Daddy and I both male?"

Shen Shiyan: "..."

A deep sense of helplessness overwhelmed him, especially when met with Shen Ci's innocent, guileless eyes. He couldn't say anything.

In the end, they still washed together, though Shen Shiyan faced away from Shen Ci and used the shower.

He washed super fast. After quickly cleaning up the floor, Shen Shiyan wrapped a towel around himself, grabbed the hairdryer, and let the hot air blow on his scalp as he ran his fingers haphazardly through his wet hair.

When it was half-dry, Shen Shiyan realized Shen Ci in the tub was completely quiet.

...

Sure enough, he was asleep.

Resigned, he put down the hairdryer, crouched down, splashed a few handfuls of water to rinse the foam from Shen Ci's shoulders, then flicked droplets onto his face: "Shen Ci."

He called a few times, and as expected, got no response.

Shen Shiyan never understood how someone could fall asleep in water, and so soundly at that. This was the second time.

Amid his wandering thoughts, he had already lifted Shen Ci out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. Shen Ci's hair, now past his neck, clung wetly to his skin. Holding the boy with one arm, Shen Shiyan grabbed another towel from the shelf and rubbed it over Shen Ci's hair like drying off a wet puppy.

"Daddy."

Shen Ci's voice was a little hoarse.

"Mm." Shen Shiyan responded, using the towel to dry his feet, then bent down to put on his slippers before setting him on the ground. "Dry your own hair."

By the time he left the bathroom, it was past midnight. Shen Shiyan looked at the huge double bed and thought flatly that washing together hadn't saved any time.

The washer-dryer hummed mechanically as the room fell into pitch darkness. Shen Shiyan was really tired; he closed his eyes and soon felt drowsy.

Half-asleep, Shen Ci on the other side wrapped his arms and legs around him like a giant body pillow, clamping down with bent knees.

Shen Shiyan's arm, pinned under Shen Ci, went numb in minutes. His lashes fluttered, but he didn't open his eyes, just awkwardly pulled his arm out.

Without the barrier, Shen Ci held on even tighter. As he moved, Shen Shiyan's pajamas rode up, and Shen Ci's hand slipped through the gap, pressed against his skin, and latched firmly onto his waist.

Shen Ci rested his head right on Shen Shiyan's shoulder, sleeping soundly, his breath warm against Shen Shiyan's neck.

The next day, the main activity was skiing and ice skating. While changing into their ski boots, Song Xianghan glanced at Shen Shiyan, who was yawning for the umpteenth time, and asked: "Didn't sleep well?"

"Mm." Shen Shiyan's gaze drifted absently to Shen Ci, who had fallen face-first into the snow. "Had a nightmare. Almost got strangled to death by an octopus."

None of them knew how to ski; the most skilled was Song Qiuchi, who had a few days of skateboarding under her belt.

As they were about to leave, Shen Shiyan used his phone to record a video of Song Qiuchi teaching Shen Ci to ski.

He turned out to be surprisingly good, learning to glide on his own after a little while and even racing Song Qiuchi for a stretch.

On the way back, Miss Qi, who had slightly twisted her ankle, was pulled by Song Xianghan into her business van, which had more space for her to lie down and rest.

Shen Shiyan drove Qi Zizhu's car, with Shen Ci in the backseat, still a bit reluctant to leave.

"Didn't get enough?"

Shen Ci licked his lips and said, "A little."

Shen Shiyan asked him: "Song Qiuchi signed up for a skateboarding class. You want to learn?"

Song Qiuchi had mentioned it a few times in their WeChat messages and even showed him photos of herself skateboarding. Shen Ci thought it looked cool, but only in a passing way—he hadn't felt the urge to try it. But today's skiing had given him a real taste of the thrill of such sports.

Unlike the boring running or jump rope in PE class, being guided by an instructor down a steep slope, with cold wind and snow spray kicked up by the board rising higher than him, the brief weightlessness made his heart race like he might lift off.

Skateboarding and skiing shared some similarities, and he could do it with Song Qiuchi, avoiding boredom alone at home.

Excited by the thought, Shen Ci leaned forward from the gap next to the driver's seat, still strapped in by his seatbelt, nodding vigorously like a pecking chick.

Shen Shiyan, as usual, told him to sit back.

On Tuesday morning, Shen Shiyan and Qi Zizhu were swamped. They first sorted through two days' worth of backlogged work, signed a few documents, attended an early meeting at Yuhe, then rushed to Chonghe for another meeting. After lunch, they met with a client and then headed to Yunhai to start the second round of surveys for the deep-sea oil and gas project.

In between, he even found time to fill out an information form for Shen Ci's skateboarding instructor.

That evening, before Shen Shiyan got home, he received two WeChat messages.

One was from Shen Ci.

"Shen Ci: Daddy, how about I wear this to skateboard tomorrow?"

Attached was a selfie. He was wearing the dark gray hoodie Shen Shiyan had picked out during their last shopping trip, paired with black slim-fit jeans and gray-and-black sneakers.

His angle was odd—phone held high, waist arched down, butt sticking out—making his head, topped with a little bee hat, look oversized, and his expression dazed.

Shen Shiyan saved the picture and typed back.

"Shen Shiyan: Change to the beanie. This one's too goofy."

The second message was from the housekeeper, saying that Shen Sicheng was returning from abroad tomorrow for a family banquet in the main hall. He was to arrive before one o'clock and not be absent.

Shen Shiyan paused for a moment. He didn't know much about this "third brother," who was also his uncle and close in age.

He'd heard about him during a few morning training sessions, only knowing that Shen Sicheng's relationship with Shen Wenzhou was strained.

Shen Wenzhou's lawful wife, Zhao Fenghua, was four years older than him. She was already sixty-four when she conceived Shen Sicheng, far past childbearing age, but she risked a ten-month pregnancy. She passed away before she could even see Shen Sicheng's face.

Shen Sicheng had hated Shen Wenzhou since childhood, because he seemed more like a grandfather than a father.

Especially since Shen Wenzhou constantly emphasized that his mother died because of him. After several arguments, their relationship hit rock bottom. Shen Wenzhou sent him abroad in high school, and he only came back once a year.

Shen Sicheng had no interest in the family business, devoting himself instead to studying Earth's plates and geological movements, passionate about astronomy and geography.

Shen Shiyan frowned slightly, recalling a small auction a client had mentioned. It featured a not-too-valuable rock—a fragment from a meteorite impact from some asteroid. He couldn't remember the details, but he contacted the client and bought the fist-sized stone for 450,000 yuan.